Limerick East): I thank Deputy Lawlor for raising this issue on the Adjournment and giving me the opportunity to put departmental policy on record.
Drug use and drug addiction is one of the greatest dangers to health. It is becoming a national problem. It is endemic in certain areas of Dublin and is not confined to any one particular area of the city. One's social and economic background is no longer a protection for one's children and family. I am very much aware of the concerns of various communities and individuals in the Blanchardstown area about the proposed clinic. I know there is a protest outside the House this evening but I draw Deputies' attention to the fact that it is not very long ago, just last week, since there was a major march to this House by people demanding extra clinical facilities and additional methadone treatment for persons in their community, particularly for their own children. Yesterday I met representatives of ICON, the north inner city community group, and they have accepted a clinic in their area and are looking for increased facilities.
It is a very difficult problem. I met a woman in that delegation yesterday whose son committed suicide and another woman who put it to me "what does one do if one's teenage daughter comes home pale, sweating and shivering and shaking and she needs either heroin or a substitute and the only substitute available is methadone?" There are concerns on both sides and both have decided to take to the streets on this issue. It will have to be addressed as a matter of policy. I believe the Government and the Minister for Health have a responsibility to persons who are addicted to drugs and we have to put measures in place to help, in so far as any society can, alleviate the problem.
Deputies will be aware that the provision of services for drug misusers in the Dublin area is a matter for the Eastern Health Board in the first instance. Since 1992 funding has been provided to the board to enable it to implement the recommendations of the Government strategy to prevent drug misuse. This involves the development of a comprehensive programme of services for drug misusers, ranging from education and prevention to treatment and rehabilitation. While the ultimate object of treatment programmes for drug misusers is a drug free lifestyle, it is internationally acknowledged that this is not an option in the short-term for many drug misusers. Consequently it has been necessary to introduce a number of treatment options, most notably methadone maintenance, as a means of (a) stabilising the behaviour of drug misusers which, in turn, can lead to a reduction in drug related crime and (b) enabling those who wish to become drug free to do so and to proceed to rehabilitation. A community drug centre was established for the residents of Dublin 15 to provide treatment to drug misusers in the catchment area in which they reside. Other centres have been successfully in operation for up to three years with minimal problems associated with their operation. The treatment provided at these centres includes (a) counselling and support for drug misusers, their families and carers and (b) prevention services to the community as a whole through a network of outreach workers and counsellors.
To date three community drug centres have been established by the Eastern Health Board. The centres are run under strict medical and general supervision. The hours of operation are normal business hours. Each patient's general practitioner is informed of all treatment provided by the centre. The patient is required to co-operate with the treatment programme worked out by the centre's staff. This includes medication, urine screening, appointment times etc. All patients must be over 18 years. They must respect the centre's staff and the local residents and business people. They must help to promote a positive image for the centre in the locality, for example, by not congregating, dealing in drugs or committing crimes in the locality. All breaches of these requirements will incur a sanction worked out by the doctor and other professionals dealing with that patient.
Any community would misunderstand the nature of the drug problem if it thought it could be ring-fenced from its implications. There are quite a number of addicts in Dublin 15. No community is safe from the real threat, and we have to try to deal with it. If we ignore it, it will spread and not only the persons who are addicted will be at risk.
I appreciate that local communities in the Blanchardstown area are apprehensive about the establishment of a community drug centre in their area. I appeal to them, however, to acknowledge that the most successful way to provide treatment for those misusing drugs is to provide it in the community. I would rather have drug addicts on methadone treatment in my community than drug addicts who are not on methadone. I ask them to consider the views of community organisations in areas of the city where such centres have already been established. It has been demonstrated quite clearly that with proper supervision and control, those centres work effectively with the minimum of interference to the local community.
The Eastern Health Board has given assurances to the local community in Blanchardstown as follows: from today an additional addiction counsellor and two outreach workers, based at the new centre, will form a new team for the Dublin 15 area. Until now there has only been one addiction counsellor. The new team will assist and advise young people, their families and the community at large who may be worried about drug use problems. The team will provide education and prevention programmes and no methadone or needle exchange services for drug users will be commenced without the fullest consultation with the local community. The new centre will service the Dublin 15 area only.
I see drug abuse as a very serious problem. It creates serious security problems but it is also increasingly a serious health problem, a problem that cannot be ignored. No community is immune. We must have a network of centres where persons can be treated. We cannot proceed on the basis that if we put our heads in the sand our community will be safe and the problem will only exist elsewhere.
